The Ghost
by XoStarcicleoX
Summary: There's only one thing that Naruto Uzumaki fears, and that's ghosts. However, any and all fears are gone as soon as Hinata is involved.


**Hey! So this was an entry into the NH contest in the NH club in NarutoForums. It's still Halloween in this story, since this was supposed to be for Halloween.  
Disclaimer: No, I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

Naruto's grip tightened over Hinata's hand. "A-Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked nervously.

"Naruto, you were the one who agreed to do this," Hinata said, smiling softly at her boyfriend. She knew he had a fear of ghosts, yet he insisted on going.

"Why did I, again?"

"Kiba…" Hinata started, but the single name had already stirred Naruto's blood.

"Oh, yeah. That guy. How dare he call me a chicken! I'm Naruto Uzumaki!" The blond had pointed his thumb at his chest with his free hand.

Hinata giggled softly at his defensive nature. "So...do you want to do this?"

"Heck yeah! I need to put that jerk in his place!" Naruto steeled himself, puffing his chest out. Hand-in-hand, he and his girlfriend proceeded to walk up to the Haunted House.

* * *

Halloween was one of Naruto's favorite holidays. As an expert prankster, he almost always picked trick rather than treat. Free candy was a bonus.

This year, however, Naruto's plans changed. It was his and Hinata's first Halloween as a couple, and of course Hinata overcame any trick or treat. At 6pm, he picked up Hinata at her house (she managed to convince her father that Naruto would definitely be a gentleman and that they didn't need twenty other Hyugas accompanying them) and started their date. They had a nice dinner at one of the Leaf's finest restaurant. Hinata, as a Hyuga, had enough money for the both of them but Naruto insisted on paying for the whole thing. After all, he saved most of the money in his missions for special occasions like this.

They were in the moonlight stroll part of their date when they were called by a werewolf Kiba and wild wolf Akamaru. The dog user also played on Halloween for the same reasons as Naruto, but unlike the blond, he didn't have a date, so he was free to do whatever he wanted.

This year, Sakura, Ino, and Tentend had gathered Kiba, Shino, Lee, Neji, Shikamaru, Choji, and Sai to convert one of the old abandoned homes of the Leaf into a haunted house. There were many protests, but fortunately the girls were backed by Lady Tsunade herself since the haunted house would bring in more money for the village. It took a lot of effort, but they managed to finish it on time. The group had taken shifts on who was inside the house and who was working the cashier. The dating couple happened to be in Kiba and Lee's shift when they walked past the haunted house.

Of course, the Inuzuka called them over. Since the group knew Naruto and Hinata were planning on a date on Halloween night, the two were excluded from the preparations. They wanted to help, but one of the Konoha 11 would refuse, stating they'd see what they were planning and thus couldn't enjoy the mystery of the haunted house if they entered.

Kiba and Lee begged Naruto and Hinata to enter the haunted house. Naruto was contemplating the offer (as in he was imagining Hinata clinging desperately to his arm while he bravely led them out of the horror home), but just then he heard a hair-raising scream from inside. Fake thunder boomed and lights flashed in the upper rooms of the mansion. In one of the windows, a ghoul, face covered in long black hair, appeared, scaring the person who dared entered its domain.

Naruto turned whiter than the ghost. He immediately rejected the offer then. Hinata tried to persuade him, telling him that their friends put so much effort into a project they didn't help in. The least they could do was pay to enter.

The stubborn blond remained unconvinced until Kiba called him a chicken. An argument ensued between them that ended in the Uzumaki accepting Kiba's challenge of entering the haunted house and proving dog-boy who was braver.

They waited until the last group exited the house, sickly white, Naruto noted, before they were allowed to enter.

* * *

The Konoha 11, excluding the couple, did an amazing job with the haunted house. Everything looked so real and terrifying! Naruto was feeling a little creeped out until Hinata suddenly held onto his arm, disturbed by the gory scene of the kitchen. His heart quickened, feeling a little braver from her touch.

In the kitchen, a large man, that looked like Choji, with a bloodied apron stood behind a counter, an unidentified lump laying on its surface. The man lifted the largest butcher knife any of them had ever seen high over his head. With one swift movement, the knife sliced down loudly on the lump, and a severed piece slid off the counter, falling to the floor. It looked round. As it fell, it rolled on the floor. It stopped with the object facing Naruto and Hinata.

It was Choji's head.

Hinata immediately screamed and forgot about Naruto's arm, instead going straight for Naruto's torso. She buried her face in his neck, eyes tightly closed, lips trembling.

The Uzumaki was also scared, but as soon as Hinata hugged him, all the fear went away. The warm feeling of Hinata's body against his was enough to strengthen his nerves. And how tightly Hinata's was clinging onto him made him feel invincible. The rest of the house was a piece of cake.

Sakura's infirmary scene with a stitched-up patient (where all the limbs were _not_ where they should have been), and Shino's grim reaper didn't faze him in the least. He breezed through Sai's suspicious life-size wax models of village citizens and mad scientist Shikamaru's monsters. Tenten's torture room with objects that would have made the guillotine more desirable and even headless Ino carrying a baby doll with her head stuck on it had nothing on him.

Completely invincible.

Until they were led upstairs. In his overconfident courageous mood, Naruto had forgotten about the ghoul in the upstairs room. Rain sound effects resounded in the hallways, and thunder echoed throughout the chambers.

The couple walked into the only door open. At one point, Hinata had looked up from her hug, just to admire the efforts of her friends but still remained hugging her boyfriend, which Naruto had no complaint about. They entered the dark room with a single window, hearts pounding loudly for two differing reasons.

Once they were completely in the room, the door slammed shut, sending Hinata in jitters. They looked back behind them, but there was no one there. A blast of wind howled inside the room, whirling around the couple and stirring both their feelings. The wind was so strong that the two had to cling to each other to make sure they weren't blown away or off their feet. The objects in the room, a large wooden desk, chairs, a tall lamp, and many cobwebs, rattled with the wind. It was amazing the lamp was still standing.

The wind continued swirling until it finally dispersed. A loud crackle of thunder and lightning exploded from outside. The temperature dropped several degrees below, and it was only the soft whispers that finally made Naruto and Hinata look up.

A new presence had joined them.

It stood in front of the lone window.

It was a ghost, face covered by its long locks.

Right then, even with Hinata, he lost all bravery. His confidence and courage leaked out of him, draining every ounce of it he had.

If there was anything Naruto feared other than losing his loved ones, it was ghosts.

He stiffened at the sight of the figure, seemingly staring at them. Hinata felt this sudden change in him and held on tighter.

No one moved for a very long time. It was a staring contest between the living and the dead.

Finally, though, the ghost spoke.

"Hinata."

The Hyuga inhaled sharply, genuinely surprised the ghost knew her name, and that it would speak it in the first place. If she could hold on any tighter to her boyfriend, she would have. Naruto was still standing like a statue, but he had started sweating.

The spirit took one step towards them.

Naruto yelped and scrambled backwards, the back of his waist hitting the desk behind him. Hinata was suddenly left all alone in the cold, and she looked at Naruto with fearful eyes. Naruto quickly leaned forward to grab her and pull her back to him.

He thought he heard the ghoul growling. _Please, don't start whimpering,_ he was pleading in his mind.

The spirit took another step towards them, and this time it didn't stop. It walked straight for them, hands already outstretching. "Giver her to me," it said.

Naruto couldn't take it anymore and crouched on the floor, covering his head with his arms. The ghost stopped before them, arms fully outstretched. It reached forward.

It grabbed Hinata.

The frightened girl grew wide-eyed and looked back to her boyfriend, crying, "Naruto!" The ghoul held on to her arms, pulling her farther away from her boyfriend. "Naruto!" she cried even louder.

The desperation in her voice reached Naruto's covered ears. He looked up at the scene. The ghost had his girlfriend. She was trying to escape, but it had a tight grip on her, and it looked like it was about to drag her somewhere. He immediately shot up.

"What do you think you're doing?" Naruto growled.

The ghost stopped shuffling and Hinata stopped struggling. Hinata's determination to escape her ghostly captor fueled Naruto's will. His fear left him, just as quickly as it left him. It was replaced with anger and the strong desire to protect that only appeared when Hinata was involved.

"Let go of her!" Naruto shouted. The faceless spirit only looked at him. It was frustrating not to be able to read its expression, which would reveal its thoughts. Naruto had no idea what it was thinking. "I said let her go!"

"Why should I?" the specter asked.

Hinata gasped. Naruto started seeing red. This substance-less being was about to get the better of him. It was about to kidnap his girlfriend. It was going to take her away from him. The girl he loved, who loved him.

The Uzumaki clenched his fist. With gritted teeth, he ran forward, pulling his arm back. He didn't know what he was doing. He just finished claiming it was substance-less. It was a ghost. He was jus going to go straight through it. But none of those mattered. It had Hinata in its clutches, and that was enough to devote every fiber in his being to fighting it to have her back.

The fist connected with its cheek.

The ghost stumbled several steps back and then finally falling on its back. The dating couple was too shocked to make any kind of comment. They watched with surprised eyes as the specter slowly got up, rubbing its sore cheek. As it sat up, its hair parted, finally revealing its face.

"Naruto Uzumaki, what in the _ninja world_ was that for?!" Neji cried out.

* * *

The ghost room of the haunted house had to be temporarily taken out due to Neji's injury. He would rest until the swelling in his cheek was small enough to be covered by his hair again, if that could happen in one night. Sakura and Ino offered to heal him, but he refused, not wanting to have to take out any of their roles, as well.

Naruto and Hinata opted to stay with him, instead. The three were resting in the unused room of the house: the guest room. It was separated from the prepared pathway of the haunted house, so they wouldn't be bothered. Neji laid on the bed, holding the ice to his cheek. His eyes were closed.

Naruto sat awkwardly in one of the chairs, Hinata sitting next to him. Neji had admitted that after seeing Naruto holding Hinata so close to him, his overprotective feelings took over and he moved to separate them. He forgot his role for that moment and was about to bring Hinata back to the Hyuga compound before Naruto punched him. Neji apologized, albeit reluctantly and through gritted teeth, for trying to ruin their date, but Naruto was even more sorry. He sat glumly in the chair, wondering what kind of punishment he would get when the Hyuga awoke.

A soft hand placed itself on his clammy ones. The blond looked up to stare into the eyes of his girlfriend.

"Despite the consequences, that was very brave of you, Naruto," she said softly. "I know your fear of ghosts, so you standing up to it, standing up to Neji, was amazing. Thank you for saving me."

"But you weren't really in danger," Naruto argued. "In the back of my mind I knew the ghost wasn't real, but I still got scared. I left you alone." Naruto looked back down at his hands. "I was a coward."

"No, you weren't," Hinata assured. "Standing up to any force, be it living or spectral, just to protect someone you care about, is the bravest thing anyone can do."

She took Naruto's cheeks into her palms and turned his head to her. She leaned forward to peck him on the lips before leaning back and whispering, "You were amazingly brave."

Naruto's eyes softened, and he smiled back at her.

"That better not have been a kiss I heard," Neji suddenly said from the bed, startling the two lovers.

They both glanced at the male Hyuga before staring back into each other's eyes.

* * *

**Hahaha, I didn't know how to end it ^ ^;  
I hope it doesn't sound too rushed, but I was kind of against the deadline.  
Anyway, please review!**


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